Thursday, September 27, 2012

Contradiction, Seduction, Humor

Wittgenstein said that "the civil status of a contradiction" constitutes the philosophical problem. Deleuze and Guattari said there are no contradictions, "only degrees of humor." I have said that the poet's problem is "the civil status of seduction". But what if there are no seductions? Only degrees of...

(Suggestions for a pangrammatical supplement for "humor" are welcome. Humor is to knowledge as ____________ is to power.)

UPDATE: Here's a really good hint.

1 comment:

Mama Maya said...

hmmmm.....okay, i give up (i know, that was too easy): what's the answer? I say, Laughter.

How about this: Poetry is to Language as Wilderness is to Nature.

but then you take that apart in re-thinking colonialisms, such as wild/er/ness was, is often still, someone's HOME: it's only "wilderness" to those of us outside of it. (A First Nations man in Canada suggested this idea of reclaiming the term "wilderness" as used by settlers, vs. how the people who live(d) there view it as home, i.e. not a "wild" place at all.)

Just a riff....love your site, don't know how i stumbled upon it (oh, looking for a quote by Tomas Transtromer, but i guess google thought i meant you!)....bookmarked three pages already, and discovering you in perfect time to begin dreaming and composing my M.A. thesis.

What an amazing world. AND, just started my first ever (so long overdue, i have resisted) blog myself, last night. It's a sign. And i'm writing again, too. Blessed be.

Thank you, Tomas. Looking forward to your many insightful links, words, and ideas.

Maya in Vancouver BC